I just have to say I’m constantly amazed at the number of different kinds of birds we have around our house and yard. Yesterday I saw another first for me–the Summer Tanager. It is a totally red bird–the color is almost psychedelic. At first I thought it was a cardinal but the color was a little different with no black around the beak and no crest on its head. Its wings were barely darker than the rest of its body
I took my camera with me today to get a picture and an exact count on the number of eggs in the nest. There are five eggs. This means the last egg would have been laid on the 17th so they could hatch as early as April 30. I found a great site for bird lovers to learn about birds of all kinds. It is maintained by Cornell and has so much information including live nest cams that constantly monitor
In two previous years we have had mockingbirds to nest in our grape arbor. They can be very territorial and agressive and would dive-bomb us if we got too close to their nest. I had already decided that if they nested in the arbor again I would remove the nest because we want to be able to enjoy our arbor and tend to the flowers and plants that are growing on it. Now that the bluebirds have begun nesting in the bluebird
I keep wondering when the bluebird eggs will hatch. I peeked again today and should have counted the eggs. At the time I was only thinking about whether they were hatched or not, so didn’t study them long enough to be sure. There are probably five eggs, though maybe only four. I found a web page about Eastern Bluebirds to gather more information about their nesting habbits. (http://www.alaweb.com/~kenwood/saba/birdinfo/bluebird.htm) I also put some information on a calender to help me keep up
I peeked again today and there were two blue eggs in the nest in the bluebird house. We have been blessed. I’ll be posting along as the family progresses. I dare not peek too often. I understand that preditors can smell our footprints and may lead preditors to the nest. (PS I wrote this two days ago and discovered today that it was still in draft mode. So for the record, the two eggs were discovered on April 14. )